All Printed Photoanode/Photovoltaic Mini-Module for Water Splitting

Printing a large-area bismuth vanadate photoanode offers a promising approach for cost-effective photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, the light absorption trade-off with charge transfer, as well as stability issues always lead to poor PEC efficiency. Here, the solution-processed recipe is advanced with BiI3 dopant for the printed deposition with controllable crystal growth. The resultant BiVO4 films prefer (001) orientation with nanorod feature on substrate, allowing a faster charge transfer and improved photocurrent. The BiVO4 photoanode in tandem with perovskite solar module delivers an operating photocurrent density of 5.88 mA cm(-2) at zero bias in 3.11 cm(2) active area under AM 1.5 G illumination, yielding a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency as high as 7.02% for unbiased water splitting. Equally important, the stability of the aged BiVO4 rods has been addressed to distinguish phase segregation at surface. The photocatalysis degradation composes of vanadium loss and Bi2O3 enriching at the surface, opening a lid on the long-term stability of BiVO4 photoanodes.

Automated summary

By using BiI3 dopant, the solution-processed method for fabricating bismuth vanadate films has been improved, resulting in faster charge transfer and improved photocurrent, leading to higher photoelectrochemical water splitting efficiency.